Outreach work - like much of the care we offer at Squamish Helping Hands Society - is often a marathon and not a sprint.  Many of our participants identify and enact small gradual changes to their lives rather than an enormous overnight transformation.  One of our participants has been accessing our emergency shelter for over a year, requiring them to leave our building each morning and return to claim a space each night. During this period, we connected them to essential services, and they developed a case plan with our team that included a goal of stopping active substance use.  We checked in on them regularly and offered options for detox services and addiction treatment.  They were engaged in the conversations but regularly stated that they weren’t ready yet.  In late March, our outreach worker had a conversation with them and a peer (a person with lived experience who works at our overdose prevention site and helps support participants in active use).  During this conversation, our participant’s expression changed and they clearly stated that they were ready.  Our peer and worker supported this decision, and they have transitioned from our shelter to a detox facility where the next step of their work will begin.

Ten of our participants and peers self-selected to attend an intensive workshop on peer-led trauma-informed substance use reduction and stoppage in January 2025.  The three-day training - held in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health - is an alternative to 12-step addictions treatment which can alienate individuals who prefer a secular, non-faith-based approach.  Participants are encouraged and trained to create and seek safe spaces before and after detox to develop skills and strength among their communities that ensure individuals can be cared for while remaining accountable to their own health and life goals.  By fostering collaborative action that is truly reflective of the needs of our participants, we strengthen our harm reduction services and increase the number of peers who can provide services and care on-site at Squamish Helping Hands.  Following the program, several new peers joined our Street Reach team to support the work of our outreach into encampments and for other precariously housed people.  Eighty participants attended the 12 street degree workshops supported by our outreach team and 11 peer facilitators.  In March, we celebrated 25 graduates of the program with grad gifts and certificates, food, drinks and ice cream cake at the Squamish Public Library.  This program is an enormous next step for many people who gain confidence, life-saving skills, and the ability to become employed as a peer within Squamish Helping Hands, the overdose prevention site, and other equivalent harm reduction programs.  The remainder of the cohort will continue working toward their accreditation during monthly programs to provide first aid, overdose reversal training, and harm reduction skills.